Dinner at Dinarjat

I thought I managed to see quite a lot of Rabat that day. I’m pretty sure that I have missed a few places like the royal palace which you probably couldn’t get into anyway. Overall, I was quite pleased with Rabat. It is a modern and well organized city totally unlike the medinas which I have seen elsewhere. Then again, it might not be fair to compare the modern city to the medinas of old since the modern cities are better planned. In fact, most medinas would have a modern city outside the medina walls, this true of the other medinas that I have visited like Tangier, Fès and Meknès.

I was impressed how they kept the old and at the same time grow the new. This good planning of Rabat enabled it get listed as a UNESCO World heritage site. I actually thought that Rabat was a heritage site because of its ancient quarter but it is actually the entirety of Rabat which makes it a heritage site. Very impressive. I head back to the dar where I was staying in to get a bit of rest. By this time, the medina was already quiet. I took some time to rest before heading out again for dinner. I was contemplating on where I would be having dinner. I considered the El Dhow which is a restaurant on a dhow just outside the medina. But another thing caught my eye. Dinarjat seems to be one of the most highly touted restaurants in Rabat and it is actually inside the medina. It looks like I need to get lost inside the medina once again.

Amazingly, Google seems to have mapped most of the medina of Rabat so I was able to find the restaurant immediately. Like a lot of other places in Morocco, this place looks like a residential unit from the outside, and it probably was one. A local told me to ring the bell to be let in. It seems that this place is indeed quite well known even to locals. Inside the restaurant surprised me. It was like a riad with modern lighting or a riad turned to look like a hotel. It was actually nice inside but at the same time it felt very upscale. Then again, this is the capital city of Rabat, I guess this is to be expected.

The one who met me at the door didn’t seem to be very friendly. He showed me a seat in the corner and handed me a menu. I got myself lamb leg with pear tagine. I never had this before but I should not be surprised with the combination. The pear supposedly makes the meat tender as well. The results is a yummy dish which I would describe as the best I’ve had the entire trip. The sauce was sweet but not overly sweet. The pears have been stewed so they are also soft. The meat is generously thick as well. I never thought that this combination would be so nice. I ended up having a lot of bread or msemen because I didn’t want to waste the sauce. To finish it up, I had a bottle of Casablanca beer. I insensitively asked the waiter what would be his recommendation for drinks but I realized that he was Muslim and most probably wouldn’t know. So, Casablanca it is. Apparently, Morocco does produce its own beer and wine but majority of then is exported. The rest if probably left for tourists. Dinarjat may not be the cheap, hole in the wall type of restaurant but I thought that it would be okay to splurge once in a while since I am on holiday. This is most especially true since I liked the meal so much.

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